The child welfare reform bill, which passed on June 6, 2005, was signed by Governor Guinn on June 17, 2005 and is effective immediately.

This new law will require all social workers to be trained in their duty to protect your constitutional and statutory rights during an investigation. Furthermore, this bill will require social workers to inform you of the allegations against you during an investigation. Up until this point, social workers in Nevada will often withhold the nature of the allegations from the individual and simply demand entry into the home. They also are not currently trained in your Fourth Amendment rights.

Previously, we informed you that the bill had passed the Senate and was awaiting the chairman of the committee to schedule it for a vote in the Assembly. However, despite our best efforts, the chairman of the committee would not schedule a hearing for the bill and simply let it die.

This action removed what we thought was the last chance of the bill passing. All hope seemed lost. The next session was not for another two years. It looked as if child welfare reform would just not happen this year.

However, Frank Schnorbus, one of Nevada's homeschool leaders, along with Senator Washington, the sponsor for Senate Bill 402, did not lose hope. They put their heads together and found a way to attach S.B. 402 to another bill. After Barbara Dragon, another homeschool leader in Nevada testified in support of the amended bill, the bill passed the committee and passed the entire legislature on June 6, 2005. We learned once again that it's not over til it's over!

These new constitutional restrictions will provide strong protection for homeschoolers and other citizens in Nevada.